seriously concerning

The other day I was listening to the radio in the morning while I was getting ready for work and the topic of conversation really got my attention. They were discussing a poll that was taken asking people whether or not they think that the dolls they have out there these days for little girls are too provocative. The results of this question were an overwhelming 'Yes' (thank goodness). These dolls include the Bratz dolls, Bling-Bling Barbie... and I don't even know what else. Particularly troubling to parents are their knee-high boots, mini skirts, midriffs, and makeup. But it's not only that. These provocative dolls portray a certain attitude as well.

When the creators of these dolls were confronted about this image they were creating for young girls, of course they denied it. They claim that they are creating a child-like fantasy for girls and "they (the young girls) know" that it's not reality [...jaw drops...speechless...in shock...still can't believe what i'm hearing!!]. WHO ARE THESE MONSTERS THAT ARE WORKING THERE?!?! Do they not have any kids of their own?!?! Can they not see what our culture is turning into?!?! Who does the hiring there and what is their sceening process?! Honestly.

I took a Christian Ethics course in my last term of university and we did a class on "Buying Into Sexy: The Sexing Up of Tweens". (If this subject is as interesting/infuriating to you as it is to me, then you will definitely want to read this article or download the video.) We talked about the sad role that men and women in our culture are expected to live up to (a.k.a. "gender scripts"). But we also talked about the one thing that disgusts me the most... "age compression". Even just 10 years ago manufacturers and marketers of the sexy image targeted the 16 to 18 year olds. Now the focus is on the 10 to 12 year olds (Tangent: did you know that La Senza sells bras size 30AA?!! Who the heck even needs to wear a bra at that size!!! Seriously... it's all for image... it's supposed to be cool if your straps are showing). I know for sure that fashion was not a big concern for me at that age... big t-shirts and baggy blue jeans was the extent of my wardrobe. I believe it's our culture and its hunger for the almighty dollar that has changed that.... and it makes me so sad because there's such a huge maturity gap between 10 and 16 years old.

Candies, a shoe company manufacturer targeting tweens (8 to 14 year olds), has a shirt that reads: "Be sexy: It doesn't mean you have to have sex", which is worn in advertisments by Ashlee Simpson as part of their marketing strategy. Candies' CEO says, "Although some people could say it's hypocritical, we think it makes a lot of sense. Just because a girl wants to dress up and look good and maybe look sexy doesn't mean that she should have a baby or doesn't mean that she wants to have sex." Talk about mixed messages being sent to, and moulding, the minds of children right at the age when they are most easily influenced as they just begin to discover themselves and find independence... !! Sound like a recipe for trouble?

This doesn't only influence girls though. Boys these days are consuming a bimbo image of women... and that will be how they treat women later in life obviously, because that's all they've ever known or been shown. It's there for the guys in music videos, sports (cheerleaders), and video games (Ex. WWE -- there are women wrestlers who rip each others clothes off; and Tony Hawk Underground -- a game about skateboarding which, interestingly enough, has a strip club in it, which statisically is more frequently visited than other areas of the game).

When I was living in Montreal I was watching the news one night and (I'll never forget this) in one of their segments they said that 25% of kids between the ages of 10 and 14 in Montreal have had sex already!!! And what's even more horrifying is that their parents are ok with this as long as they're using protection (which they can't confirm because parents don't talk to their children about these issues anymore... it's easier for them to just ignore it than to try to bring it up in conversation because they know that they're taught Sex Ed in school. I don't know about you, but my school's Health class sure didn't teach me about safe sex at age 10!). Thinking back, I think I was probably starting to notice boys and get crushes at age 10, but I'm sure I was too scared to talk to them. And at 14 years old I was thinking about holding hands and my first kiss (no tongue!)... NOT sex. That didn't cross my mind for a while yet.

It's really no wonder there's sooooo much sexual sin these days.... so much rape, STDs, pornography addiction, adult entertainment, promiscuity, affairs, divorces, broken families, single parents, unwanted children and abortions, workplace harrassment when our generation has faught so hard for equality... and the list goes on and on... all stemming back to this "simple" influence from our childhood to emulate whoever or whatever it is that's out there that we look up to.

Julie was over at my house on Thursday night and we were flipping through the channels after Survivor and just happened to stop and watch for a bit when we came to the Life Network where they were showing The Nanny. My goodness, that was scary! It definitely got both of us thinking and talking about how our culture is creating kids with bad behavior and developing unacceptable habits in them. They are becoming completely out of control and their parents just cannot handle them any longer. If kids are like this now, then what are they going to be like in 10 years when/if I have kids of my own to raise?! How good are my parenting skills gonna be?! It can't be an easy job. I'm definitely going to have to retreat to country!

At church last Sunday the pastor's sermon was entitled "Sex in the City of God". He talked about how we all struggle with sexual sin of some sort, Christians and non-Christians alike, whether it be in thought or in action, but the point he was getting at is that we need an intimate relationship with God. We can try many things to try to keep us from falling into sex-related sin (ie. firewalls on our computers, stay away from certian places, don't watch certain shows on tv, don't associate with people who influence us in this way, etc.), but when it comes down to it, God is the only answer. Only He can give us the strength that we need to resist, and only He can save and protect us from our sinful nature. Therefore, the closer we are to Him, the more in love with God we are, the better off we'll be. Sexual sin will no longer have a hold on us because God has made us clean. I think it's time we start showing our kids a real love so that it's not merely peer approval that they seek after.

I hope you can see the connection I've tried to make between all these stories and real-life issues that I've talked about. And I hope you can understand the vastness, complexity, and importance of it. Now I'd like to end on a happier note. Going back to where I began, the discussion I heard on the radio Friday morning... they also talked about some of the dolls that we had as kids growing up:

Raggedy Ann/Raggedy Andy (nothing sexy about that!)
Strawberry Shortcake
Cabbage Patch Kids
Care Bears
Pound Puppies
My Little Pony
Rainbow Bright
Barbie (the innocent kind)

Can you think of any others?

new beginning

i was sitting at my desk diligently working away on friday afternoon, my supervisor who sits next to me was no where to be found, and then my boss (who is the head of my department) came over to me and said "can i talk to you for a few minutes?". i was like "ya sure!", and then he motioned for me to follow him to his office, so then all of a sudden i panicked in fear cause i had no idea what this was all about.

this is HUUUUGE for me... i was told to keep it a secret for a few days until my boss had time to let my supervisor know what's going on, but... i'm terrible. immediately after i got back to my desk i messaged my friend ashleigh and told her to meet me in the bathroom cause i had an exciting secret to tell her... i couldn't keep it to myself, haha. and then i went to a house party with a bunch of my co-worker friends on friday night and i ended up telling all of them too... and now i'm telling you, so the secret is officially out!

anyways, when my boss called me into his office he told me that dmti was having a hiring freeze right now. however, the product development department is super busy and in need of more people. he had already had a talk with my supervisor knowing that i was stuggling to find things to do to keep myself from being bored each day. he asked my supervisor if he really needed 2 people helping him (there's 1 other guy in our area who's been there longer than me) considering the inconsistancy of the workload in the client services department (where i am right now). even though my supervisor keeps telling me that things will begin to pick up in the fall, so far they have been empty promises... and i started in june, so i've been waiting a long time and wasting a lot of time it seems. so anyways, my boss asked me if i would be interested in transferring over to the product development department! YES i said! eventually i will be fully responsible for one particular product. i haven't been told which product i will be working on yet, but i suspect that it will be our Platinum Postal Suite, which is postal code points and regions for all of canada. this opportunity will allow me to finally use my skills that i have worked at so long and hard in university (nevermind the money i spent to get there), it will challenge me, and it won't be repetative. it will also give me a lot more potential for advancement/promotion. client services seems to me to be a pretty dead end department. having said all that, i don't want to get my hopes up too much, because it may not pan out to be a good as i'm anticipating once i really get started into to. afterall, i was initially very excited with the sounds of working in client services, but then i ended up being very disappointed with how things turned out.

so after i accepted my new position, my boss told me where my new desk would be.... : ( it's in quite possibly the worst spot in the entire office! i really like my current desk, but the new desk is in a very high traffic area near the lunchroom. it's also smaller, darker, and wide open for everyone to stare at my computer screen as they walk by. not only that, but it's right next to my new supervisor and 2 other guys who are slave-drivers and very serious. no games and no more jokes. i'm thinking that just the atmosphere alone will be very stressful for me. they're not exactly known around the office as everyone's favorite people. i really like my current supervisor. he's the nicest guy ever and he brings me treats. and i've become really good friends with some of my co-workers in my department, so i'm gonna miss not working with them. i won't have as many cool friends in my new department, so i don't know... i hope i still like it.

so there... i got a new job again that i didn't even have to apply for this time (i wish it was a promotion though as opposed to a transfer cause i need the money!). so it's back to training again for me starting oct 2. hopefully it goes better this time (or goes, period), although i haven't heard too many good things about the training in this department, so it could be worse than client services training. oh man, i can't imagine.


p.s. new beginning #2, my life insurance contributions kicked in this week. how odd is that?! i feel old now. too bad that my beneficiary would still be left with debts if i died tomorrow, haha.

Dog

I have a confession to make. I think I'm starting to develop a mild obsession for Dog the Bounty Hunter. Julie urged to be come forward about this, but it was my brother who got me hooked initially.

For those who haven't boarded the Dog train yet, Dog the Bounty Hunter is a show on A&E. It's kinda like a reality show, except not the competition type. It basically follows Duane Chapman and his crew (mainly comprised of family members) around as they do their job... capturing criminals and helping them get their lives turned around using compassion, respect and humility to help restore their dignity, in return for reward money. The kicker is that Dog himself is an ex-convict who now has a strong faith in the Lord and is a devout born-again Christian (yay!). Aaaand Leland, the Dog's son, is a total heartthrob (of course, there's always one in the bunch)... he's got the whole bad boy image, but he's such a great guy.

Anyways, there's one specific story involving the Dog which has brought me to write about this today. It's a story that you may have seen or heard in the news/media recently.

I don't know what you've got stored away in your memory bank, but you may remember the case of Andrew Luster in the USA back in 2003. He was a convicted serial rapist and the famed heir to the Max Factor cosmetics fortune. He was convicted of drugging and raping three women over a four year span. During his trial in 2003, Luster fled the country to Mexico. After months of an unsuccessful search by US police, Dog and his team tracked the fugitive in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico in June 2003, where he was living under an alias, and they arrested him. It was this capture that catapulted the Dog to fame. However, as bounty hunting is illegal in Mexico, Dog, Leland and Tim (Dog's brother in gangster terms, not for real) were arrested by the Mexican authorities and Luster was handed over to the United States government by the Mexicans. Luster was subsequently found guilty and is currently serving a 124 year prison sentence. Dog, Leland and Tim were thrown in jail in Mexico and denied their reward for the capture, but were released on bail one week later.

Then, early Thursday, September 14, 2006, to much surprise, Dog, Leland and Tim were taken into custody by U.S. Marshals in connection with the charges stemming back 3 years ago. Thankfully they were put in prison in the US though, rather than being extradited to Mexico again, but they were separated and put in an area of the prison with the worst of the worst criminals. They were threatened and harrassed while they were there and had a real fear that their lives were in danger by other inmates. After all, some of them were there because of Dog, therefore making him a real target. Again, Dog, Leland and Tim were all released on bail on Friday, September 15th, 2006, as the judge concluded they are not flight risks. While out on bail, however, they are required to remain in Hawaii and wear electronic monitoring devices around their ankles until they return to court for extradition hearings to face trial in Mexico. No date has been set for those hearings yet.

Funny part of all this is that bounty hunting in Mexico is only a minor felony and not even a Mexican citizen would be treated like this or face this kind of scrutiny... and even so, these guys did a good deed to benefit society! In addition, the charges against them are for bounty hunting which, by definition, necessitates payment for their work, which they never got.

Anyways, I highly recommend watching the full story of Dog: The Family Speaks on A&E on Saturday, September 23, 2006 at 5pm. There's sooooo much more I haven't told. I got all choked up when I watched how they were treated and yet saw their strength in prayer and believing that "where mercy is shown, mercy will be given." And since this trial is very present, if you could, please visit the Dog's website and sign the petition (and pray for them!). I also recommend reading each of their bio's (especially Tim's)... they were all headed down the wrong path in life at some point and it's incredible to see how God's has changed them miraculously and is now using each of them in a great and mighty way. I don't mean to sound like a groupy... I really do strongly believe in these guys. And I pray that justice prevails.

click to go to The Dog's website

Picture Highlights/Storybook

... of a day in the life of the adventures of Katie and Julie (a.k.a. Belly and Hazelly).

Well it all began on a beautiful Saturday afternoon. Hazelly picked up Belly at her belle apartment and together they commuted to the land of cigarette ads for faces and edible oil products (which we ate for lunch -- although we did avoid the BK Quad Stacker so as to not vomit all over ourselves).

1st stop: Toronto Convention Centre

We attended the Go Abroad fair and got quite a few on tips on travel. We also entered our names in a large quantity of prize draws.

2nd stop: CBC Museum

After Belly and Hazelly were done at the fair, they had nothing to do until 3:00 and therefore an hour of time to kill with no plans... so why not cross the street and check out Peter Mansbridge's headquarters?! (Credit goes to Belly's Li'l Brudder for inspiring her to check out this 15 min treasure). Upon arriving there, Belly and Hazelly were greeted by a beautiful sign indicating that there were only 22 days left to go before the start of Hockey Night in Canada... much excitement! Then upon further investigation and much more excitement (for real), Belly and Hazelly met up with their dearly beloved childhood....

Mr. Dressup's tickle trunk

and Casey and Finnigan's treehouse

and many more (like the Friendly Giant and Bazil Bear).

3rd stop: Destination Nowhere

This resulted in many random skyscraper skyscape photos...

and subway ridin'.

4th stop: John Mayer Concert

After meeting up with 2 of Hazelly's friends at the subway station, the 4 amigos walked to Yonge and Dundas to be entertained... although they had to wait a long time in close quarters with sore feet for it. There were about half a dozen video billboards to watch in the meantime though, including the latest breaking news on the condition of the Montreal shooting victims... just in case you're ever walking by the Eaton Centre and feel the need to know something of this nature. Then Cheryl Hickey and Rick Campanelli finally introduced us to the one and only....

class act/awesome possum. One full hour, in fact. All for free! And right on the heels of his new CD release (Continuum).

Immediately following this concert extraordinaire was the most Toronto Trash/Downtown Dump that Belly has ever known! And among this was the most randomness that Belly has ever known!

Yes folks, that really is an artichoke where adherants of The Mayer once congregated. But the artichoke was nearly outdone by a tiny dog wearing a pink t-shirt, pink tutu, and pink booties... only in this netherworld do you get authentic experiences like this, people! Belly then saw a horseback riding policeman for the first time ever and decided that that was pretty cool.

5th stop: Belly's Pad

Apres le musique, Belly and Hazelly made a long trek back to the M-ham and had Belly's leftover slop for dinner while watching "Dog the Bounty Hunter" marathon on TV.

And so concludes a wonderful adventurous day in the life of Belly and Hazelly.

Ovation Concert

I was at a concert in Stratford this past weekend and had a really good time. I also had a really good view! I took a few pictures with my cell phone camera that I thought I'd share with you, but unfortunately the picture quality isn't prime.

Stabilo (my new favorite band)...


Hedley (Jacob Hoggart from Canadian Idol)...


Sloan (the lead singer guy, whatever his name is)...


Nelly Furtado (when she came down off the stage I got to touch/hold her hand!!)...

Press Release

Many people still don't really understand what I do at work with my education (other than the fact that I make maps, in general terms), so I thought I would post this press release. It's kinda interesting (to me anyways... and my mom). It's just one example, but it's written in a language that will make sense to you.

Home Depot Canada Maps National Delivery Fee System with Help from DMTI Spatial™

Markham, ON September 12, 2006 - DMTI Spatial, Canada’s leading provider of comprehensive geospatial products and services is pleased to announce that Home Depot Canada, a division of the world's largest home improvement retailer has implemented DMTI Spatial’s digital map data services to optimize and standardize their home delivery services.

DMTI Spatial services assist Home Depot Canada by providing an effective means of presenting their national delivery fees structure. Home Depot Canada’s employees now have the ability to provide their customers with clear, illustrative, and standardized pricing based on their customers postal code location.

These maps represent a nationally consistent delivery fee structure; distributed across 123 outlets nationwide. The delivery zone mapping supports Home Depot Canada's leading customer service and satisfaction policies.

"Customers can receive the cost of a delivery to their home or business instantly," said Jason Brown, Delivery Services Manager of Home Depot Canada. "With the assistance of DMTI Spatial, our store staff can quickly ascertain the location and the cost to ship products from the retail outlet to the customers’ given shipping destination."

By providing custom mapping of their delivery zones, DMTI Spatial map services reduced the time of Home Depot’s previous mapping efforts by 50%. Consequently, the delivery zone standardization and reduction in time provided a tremendous return on investment to the Delivery Services Division’s bottom line, supplying the department with a substantial cost savings.

See! I am doing something good in this world! Anyways, hehe, sorry I don't have anything more entertaining for you today... maybe later.